Process of treating iron and steel.



' W. F. M. MOGARTY.

PROCESS OF TREATING IRON AND STEEL. APPLICATION nmsn A PB. 9, 190a.

- 901,547. Patented octzmmos.

.' nuwtm mam, I

UNI ED STACEEiIihEDENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R uAsos MCUARTY, or ROCKY RIDGE, MARYLAND, ssrcnon or()NE-FOURTH TO GEORGE o. EATON, ONE-FOURTH To THOMAS M. ACKEN, ANDONE-THIRTIETH TO ALEXANDER'J. GUTTMAN, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF TREATING IRON AND STEEL.

Epecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 20, 1908.

Original application filed. November 23, 1907, Serial No. 503,552.Divided and this application filed. April 9, 1908.

.- ilerial 1E0. d26,147.

To call whom it may concern:

Be it known thst i, WrLLrsr-ir F. MAsoiz McCA-RTY, citizen of the UnitedStates, rssiding ct Rocky Ridge, in the county of 5 Frederick and Stateof Mar land, have invented certain new and. IIBBfUl IIHPFOVGmGHtSiii-Processes of Trusting Iron and Steel, of

which the following is'a specification.

This inventionrclstes to processes of treating iron ond stool, andparticularly steel, to

produce thercfrom ingots which are free, or practically free, not onlyfrom sulfur and phosphorus hut .slso from the occluded or otherwise helduses which cause fissures, blow holes and liiie structurai ficws inmolded metal.

An important udvuntugc of my invention resides in the fact that, in thepractice of my process, cynnogcn, which exercises 2. highly deleteriouseffect upon steel, is practically Wholly eliminated.

A further important advantage of invention is that it is adapted to thetreatment of metals or ores containing titanium or metals of likecharacter, which are injurious to steel. l In accomplishing the purposesof my invention, 1 odd to themateriols from which the metal is produced.or to metal oftcr reductiom'ccntoin reagents which, by their reactionupon. the impuritics, under the con ditions of the process ashereinoftcr set forth,

effect the elimination thereof.

I have discoircrcd that the contaminating impurities hereinbeforcreferred to, can be, to a. great extent, removed by adding to the ore,or to the reduced motel one or more chlorids decomposohle at the tcmpcrzture of molten iron, referubly a mixture of calcium chlorid (CuC.,) andsodium chlorid (NeCl) and blowing superheated steam or superheated steamand air through the molten metal, or subjecting it, While in a moltencondition to the action of a vacuum. I have also discovered that, byusing the above mentioned reagents and blowing superheated steam orsuperheated steam and air through the molten metal, the impurities ofthe latter maybe eliminated to an extent 50 hitherto unobtuinoble, ifsuch treatment is combined with or followed by the subjection of themetal to the action of s. vacuum. In carrying out my process in itspreferred the molten iron orsteel therefrom, approximotely 25 pounds ofcalcium chlorid and 100 pounds of sodium chlorid to every ton of metalor to the orcs from which this amount-of metal may be reduced, thereducance with the usual practice in the art. The amount of chlorid orchlorids to be added depends upon the character of the ore or metaltreated. A determination of the nature and amount of impurities willenable a steel worker of some experience in using my process, todetermine with fair accuracy, just the amount of salts to be added.

If the metal has been produced in an ordinary blestfurnuce, it must betransferred to s. Bessemer converter, provided with a vacuum pumpattachment of the character indiouted in the accompanying drawing. It isadvisable however to employs. blast furnace in which the metal may alsobe refined; such s furnace being illustrated in the drawing referred to.

After the addition of the calcium chlorid and sodium chlorid,superheated steam is blown through the motel, preferably in. rapidlyoccurring intermittent jets, or sir and superheated steam arealternately assed through the liquid'metul and the la tter is subjectedto the action .of o vacuum. The vacuum treatment may follow theinjection of the steam or air and steam or the exhaust pump may bestarted when the steam or air and steam is turned on. T he treatment.with steam and vacuum is continued until a. test of the metal shows itto be freed from its impurities. A- little experience in treating ironand steel from a certain source will render it possible to determine theproper duration of the treatment with practical certainty.

While the conditions under which the reactions occur are such as torender it impossible to fully determine the exact chemical reactionswhich occur in the practice of my process, it appears that the treatmentwith one or more chlorids and particularly chlorids of calcium andsodium, particularly where superheated steam is injected, causes areaction of dissociated chlorin with the sulfur,

gases. in the metal, to produce therefrom gases, such for example, assulfur oxids, hy-

form, I add to an average grade of ore or to tion of the ore beingcarried out in accord-- phosphorus and the difficultly removable ilro ensulfid, hydro en phosphid, chlorin sul dand ammonia,w ich are notofanature to be securely held by occlusion or otherwise in themolten'metal, but may be readily removed therefrom, particularly by theaction of-a vacuum.

nace s own in vertical section in the accompanying drawing, although myprocess may be carried out practically and successfully, although not soadvantageously, in other forms of furnaces or converters.

In the drawing 1 represents a furnace provided with a crucible 2 intowhich twyers 3 and '4 are arranged to discharge air and superheatedsteam respectively. Cocks 5 and 6 are provided to control the supply ofair and steam. An outlet 7, adapted to be .-'osed by a fire clay plug isprovided in the crucible 2.

The body of the furnace is provided throughout the greater portion ofits length with double walls 8 and 9. as illustrated. The inner walldepends from the upper solid portion of the furnace wall and terminatesin an open lower end 10 which is.of annular shape and of reduceddiameter, the said end extending down into the crucible 2 to a pointbelow the level of the molten metal, which will be contained thereinduring the use of the furnace.

Between the innerand outer walls of the furnace is an annular chamber11, which in communication with the crucible 2. The chamber 11 isconnected with the interior of the furnace by numerous openings 12arranged in the walls, above the melting zone.

The furnace is supplied with a'cover 13, which forms a substantiallyairtight joint with the top of the furnace.

Adjacent the top of the furnace I provide a pipe 14, which is connectedwith a owerful ex aust pump, (not shown) by whic air and the gasesarising from the metal treated may be withdrawn, in the treatment of themetal as hereinbefore referred to. A brick-work su port 15 may also beprovided.

n the use of the furnace, in the preferred practice of In process, it ischarged with ore, ux and fue with the addition of calcium and sodiumchlorids, before mentioned, and

- invention will form the the charge treated in accordance with thethrough the pipe 14, as has been hereinbefore fully describe It will benoted that, inasmuch as the chamber 11 and openings 12 provide a assagefor the steam or air and steam, w ich passed through the metal incrucible 2,

it is not necessary to force or draw the entire. body of steam or airand steam injected into the metal, through the mass remaining in thebody of the furnace.

I have not claimed herein the furnace which I have shown and described,as this subject matter of a separate application. p

Metal treated by In process will be found to be practically wholly freefrom impurities, to have close fibrous or lamellar structure, be whollyfree from fissures, flaws, seams, blow holes and the like, and to bepossessed of great ductility, malleability and tensile strength.

It is to be understood that known e uivalents of the materials and ste sherein efore recited may be employed wit out departing from the spiritof my invention or the scope of the appended claims. It is also to beunderstood that the treated metal may, without de artin from my process,be withdrawn rom t 1e furnace into a mold, b and under the action of avacuum, as fully described in my copending application'for a method ofproducing ingots free from blowholes, filed July 12', 1907, Serial No.382,488.

The process hereinafter claimed is described but not claimed in anapplication filed by me on November 23, 1907, Serial N o.

403,452 of which this application is a divi- Having described myinvention, 1 claim:

1. A process of purifying iron and steel, which consists inincorporating one or more clflorids therein, and subjecting the metal ina molten state to the action of a vacuum.

2. A process of purifying iron and steel,

which consists in incorporating sodium chlorid and calcium chloridtherein, and subjecting the metal in a molten state to the action of avacuum.

In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM. F. MASON MoOARTY.

Witnesses:

C. L. PARKER, S. J. BLooK.

